Red Tent Days

~ Laura

A conversation about Japan’s menstrual leave policy is batting around the Internet. At the Atlantic, Emily Matchar writes,

Japan has had menstrual leave since just after World War II. According to the 1947 Labor Standards Law, any women suffering from painful periods or whose job might exacerbate period pain are allowed seirikyuuka (literally “physiological leave”). At the time the law was written, women were entering the workforce in record numbers, and workplaces like factories, mines and bus stations had little by way of sanitary facilities.

In Taiwan, a 2013 law guarantees female workers three days of menstrual leave a year, in addition to the 30 days of half-paid sick leave allotted to all workers. Indonesia and South Korean have similar laws.

Katy Waldman at Slate thinks that menustrual leave policies are a bad idea.

My reaction is a WTF. It’s silly to talk about time off for your period, when the United States has about the worst work-life balances laws among Western nations. We have the worst records on paid maternity leave. We have terrible sick leave policies.

I think we can suffer through cramps and PMS. Deal with the bigger problems first.

Published by Laura

11 thoughts on “Red Tent Days”

  1. Yeah, WTF. The lack of sanitary facilities made the policy more rational in the post-war/war period (especially in other countries, and when women were just joining the work force) might have resulted in laws that were justifiable at the time on practical grounds.

    But, in some of those countries, the practice of menstrual leave may be part and parcel of the issue of isolating women during their periods, rampant in a variety of Asian countries, and not generally good for women. The concept that a woman is “untouchable/impure” during menstruation is a part of several traditions/cultures and results in isolation and lack of opportunities for women, beyond the physical and sanitary issues. Borrowing this idea in the form of “menstrual leave” is a dangerous regression.

    And, the right way to deal with physical pain/issues that result from menstruation is sick leave.

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  2. Disclaimer: I haven’t read the article yet, however I like the idea of this policy, and I wonder if policies like it lead to more sick days, better family leave policies, etc. As someone who suffered from cramps (not always incapacitating but on some occasions) I think it’s a great benefit.

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  3. The practice doesn’t seem crazy to me, especially given the lack of medication available at the time it started. You’d have to look at the actual statistics; it seems entirely possible to me that women would need more sick days because of this. Certainly I would have before I got onto naproxen (now Aleve, but it was only developed in 1976 and made OTC in 1994, per Wikipedia – and I remember vividly how happy I was when it became OTC). Severe pain to the point of throwing up, on a regular basis.

    Obviously the first priority now is to get decent sick leave for everyone, but don’t be so quick to toss off the problems some women have during their periods. If it is common enough – and again, you’d have to study this to see if it is – it might justify more sick leave for women than for men. The fact that this could have negative repercussions for women is one thing to consider, but it’s not the only thing.

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  4. Pain is very individual. I think decreeing women should just “suck it up” is a very masculine perspective. It’s also very arrogant for Americans to criticize a foreign cultural practice.

    The American tendency to train people to behave as if they are never ill or need rest is counterproductive. Awards for 100% attendence in school, for example, or the general belief that vacation is morally suspect. Our model for the ideal employee seems to be a former college golf player in his early 20s, with a super-organized at home wife. Before his midlife crisis, pending divorce, and addiction to pain medication for his bad back, of course.

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    1. “Awards for 100% attendence in school, for example…”

      I think those awards are disgusting. Either the child was well, in which case, where’s the merit, or the child was sick some of that time, in which case the school is recognizing the child for the fact that his parents sent him to school sick. Yuck!

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      2. Who is never sick in the course of 180 days of school? I’m sure it happens, but if so, it’s a freak of nature.

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    2. My parents are indignant at the public schools’ desire to dictate attendance. Different generation, of course, but they don’t feel limiting days absent is reasonable.

      The parents in our local district have no problem starting family vacations before and after the “official” vacation weeks. They don’t even bother to claim their children were sick. I remember one adminstrator being very controversial, because he gave students consequences for being tardy. Said consequences were listed in the school handbook.

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  5. Sick days are fine, but a general allotment of sick days, to be used as the employee finds necessary, rather than particular allotments for particular problems, is the best solution, and equal numbers of days for men and women is fairest. So I think I agree with bj.

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  6. Perimenopause almost put me in the hospital the other week. I am still just recovering. Thank goodness that teaching term was over and that I have a very comprehensive health care plan between the Canadian government and my employer. That said, I didn’t need a specialized leave. Surely dedicated menstrual leave exists in these places as a legacy – if it was rolled over into an overall leave available to all, I think that would be wise. But I would also push to ensure that menstrual pain and complications were recognized as legitimate issues which can’t always simply be addressed with a Midol and a stiff upper lip.

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  7. Wow. Hope you’re feeling better, J Liedl. Didn’t know that perimenopause could make one so sick.

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